


Boundaries

by twopinkcarnations



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Boundaries, Consent, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 02:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13285296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twopinkcarnations/pseuds/twopinkcarnations
Summary: Michael gets a little over-excited when he sees that his friends are okay, and Eleanor teaches him how and when to ask for permission to touch people since he never learned about boundaries before.





	Boundaries

Michael does it without thinking. He grabs her by the shoulders, pulls her in, and kisses her square on the mouth. They jump apart from each other with a start.

Eleanor’s eyes are wide.

“What the heck was that?”

Chidi looks up, confused.

“What happened?” Chidi asks.

Michael’s cheeks are flushed. Eleanor wonders if he’s aware of his incredibly human reaction.

“N-nothing. Nothing. It was nothing,” he stammers.

“Michael just kissed me.”

Chidi stands.

“That’s the exact opposite of nothing.”

“Wait, I thought you were in love with Chidi,” Jason says.

Eleanor sighs.

“ _Michael_ kissed _me_ , dumb-dumb.”

“Well that seems rather unethical, doesn’t it?” Tahani points out.

The humans all stare at him.

“Care to explain?” Eleanor asks, more confused than anything else.

“I-I don’t know what came over me. I was so happy you were we okay. I got this rush inside me. I wanted to make sure you were really there.”

Eleanor rolls her eyes, but not unkindly.

“Michael, you big dork. You can’t just kowtow to every impulse! Trust me; I know. You have to ask before you glom onto someone like that.”

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“It’s okay.”

“I, uh, I do have a question though.”

“What’s that, bud?”

“Permission to give you all a bear hug?”

Jason runs over, shouting, “First!”

Chidi hangs back.

“Now when you say ‘bear hug,’ do you mean—?”

“I mean hugging you all at once with love and warmth,” Michael clarifies.

“Okay, then yeah, I could go for a bear hug.”

“I shall as well!” Tahani says.

“You know I’m down for a bear hug!” Eleanor says.

Michael embraces them all, and they, in turn embrace him back.

"Did I do that right?" he asks once they separate.

"Sure did, buddy! Boundaries can be tricky if you've never had them, but you'll get there!"

Michael smiles. Yes, having friends was a pretty good idea after all.


End file.
